Jazz Articles about Philly Joe Jones

About Philly Joe Jones

Album Review

Miles Davis: Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings

Read "Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 29, 2026

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus never met Miles Davis, but his famous observation, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man," seems tailor-made for the trumpeter. Few artists transformed themselves as completely or as often as Davis. Listeners encountering his music today can struggle to reconcile the cool, lyrical trumpeter of the bebop era with the architect of jazz-rock fusion, the creator of On the Corner (Columbia, ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings

Read "Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
June 19, 2026

Let us imagine for the moment that it is a day or two after the Big Spirit Beyond Wonder has separated the wheat from the chafe. The terrible, unwanted wars have ceased. Global climate change is no longer a threat. Autocracy is in the dustbin of history where it rightfully belongs. Illness has passed. The world, as it was in the beginning, is free of the subterfuge and manipulations of humankind. Now the Big Spirit turns their attention ...

Book Review

Philly Joe Jones Biography: The Life and Legacy of a Drummer Who Transformed Modern Jazz

by David A. Orthmann
February 16, 2026

Philly Joe Jones Biography: The Life and Legacy of a Drummer Who Transformed Modern JazzMichael C. Davis140 pagesISBN: #9798269455297Self Published2025 Anyone who is seeking out anecdotes about Philly Joe Jones's relationships with a veritable who's who of jazz greats, or particulars of his life off the bandstand, might want to steer clear of Michael C. Davis's biography of the celebrated drummer, bandleader, mentor, and teacher. Employing a streamlined approach (130 pages of text; no quotes, references, endnotes, or ...

Album Review

Kenny Drew: Kenny Drew Trio

Read "Kenny Drew Trio" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan

by C. Andrew Hovan
October 26, 2025

One of many American jazz musicians who made Europe home beginning in the early 1960s, pianist Kenny Drew is best remembered as the pianist on John Coltrane's seminal Blue Train--when he is remembered at all. Over the course of his career, Drew forged notable associations with Dexter Gordon and Jackie McLean, and recorded nearly 50 albums as a leader, most prominently Undercurrent (Blue Note, 1961) and Dark Beauty (SteepleChase, 1974). Passing away at the relatively young age of sixty-four, one ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: Miles '55: The Prestige Recordings

Read "Miles '55: The Prestige Recordings" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
September 10, 2025

It is hard to imagine any casual jazz fan failing a blindfold test on the vinyls on offer here. It is a game people play: how quickly can you identify the performer. A lot of horn players make it into the competition, because horns are boisterous and mimic the human voice and persona. Clark Terry, some say, requires one note. And for much of his career, starting in the mid-1950s, a compatriot and mentee of Terry's: Miles Davis was equally ...

Reassessing

Trio and Quintet

by C. Michael Bailey
August 23, 2025

Pianist and composer Elmo Hope has more in common with Tadd Dameron than most of his other jazz peers. Both men were primarily composers and arrangers who concentrated on their own music rather than standards. Both men spent their professional lives in New York City during the twilight of bebop and the flourishing of hard bop. Neither man boasted large discographies as leaders, but appeared on a significant number of recordings as sidemen. Their careers were both shortened dramatically by ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: 2nd Session 1956 Revisited

Read "2nd Session 1956 Revisited" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 25, 2023

The Miles Davis Quintet's 2nd Session 1956 Revisited revitalizes the iconic recordings from a pivotal year in jazz history. These original sessions, featuring Davis alongside luminaries like John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, stand as timeless classics that have indelibly shaped the course of jazz.This revisited edition captures the very essence and vitality of those legendary sessions while infusing them with a fresh perspective. The music's hallmark traits--the melodic sophistication and improvisational brilliance--are expertly ...